Shaanxi to Work Harder to Achieve Ten Purposes in 2017

“Rolling up sleeves and work harder” is not only a mission that the era gives to our generation, but also a promise we made for the future. Secretary-General Xi Jinping’s New Year’s message still echoes in our ears and the annual Shaanxi Province’s two sessions have convoked in the fervent concerns of Shaanxi people. On the morning of January 15, Hu Heping, provincial governor of Shaanxi Province, on behalf of Shaanxi Provincial Government, made a report on the government work at the 6th meeting of the 12th Shaanxi Provincial People’s Congress.

The report made a comprehensive summary of achievements of Shaanxi made in 2016. So, what will be top priorities as expected by Shaanxi people in 2017?

Promote reform and development according to the requirements of “catching up with and surpassing the advanced economies" and  “five down-to-earth promotions”

Based on the central task of “catching up with and surpassing advanced economies” and “five down-to-earth promotions” in the current and future period, Shaanxi will aim high and try to reach the first level in all aspects, fields and links of work so as to maintain the annual average growth rate of GDP around 8% during the “13th Five-Five Plan”, enable the income of urban and rural residents to catch up with or even surpass the national average, keep quality and benefit of economic development improving constantly, and try to lead the country in an increasing number of fields.

Shaanxi has set main expected goals for its economic and social development in 2017: GDP will grow around 8%, fixed investment will have a growth of around 10%, added value by industrial enterprises above designated size will have a growth of about 7.5%, local financial revenue will have a growth of about 6%, and urban and rural resident per capita income will have a growth of around 9% and 10% respectively.

Promote implementation of five tasks including“three 'de's, one 'reduce' and one 'improve'” (de-capacity, de-stock and de-leverage, reducing corporate costs and improve”

Shaanxi will regard entity economy promotion as the primary mission of supply-side structural reform, further wipe off non-effective supply, get through supply-demand channel, and improve product and service quality comprehensively. Shaanxi will make solid progress for the implementation of five tasks of “three 'de's, one 'reduce' and one 'improve'”; in terms of de-capacity, Shaanxi will accelerate to weed out substandard coal mines, promote reshuffle of iron and steel enterprises, and shut down and restructure unpromising cement enterprises. In the aspect of de-stocking, Shaanxi will cultivate and develop rental housing market, improve shantytowns transformation monetization resettlement rate, support peasants to buy houses in cities, reduce 5% of commercial residential house/building stocking scale around Shaanxi, and implement the requirement of “the house is used for living instead of fanning”.

In deleveraging, Shaanxi will carry forward market debt-to-equity swap and debt input linkage pilot, optimize enterprise assets and financing structure, lower enterprise debt ratio and bank non-performing loan ratio, expend equity investment scale, dredge the channel which capital enters into the entity economy. In cost-reducing, Shaanxi will regulate and clear up all kinds of enterprise associated charges, establish uniform common resource trading platform, adjust ordinary industrial and commercial electricity price, have more than 30 billion kWH of enterprise direct-supplying electricity, and reduce RMB 30 billion of enterprise costs all the year. In weakness-improving, Shaanxi will elaborately implement ten measures such as promotion of private economy development, and improvement of urban-rural residents’ disposable income, etc.

Implement project-driven strategy and speed up the construction of “Broadband Shaanxi”

Shaanxi will accomplish RMB 2.27 trillion of fixed investment. Shaanxi will speed up the construction of 14 expressways, including Baoji-Hanzhong, Suide-Yanchuan, etc. and start to build four new expressways, including Heyang-Tongchuan, etc. Shaanxi will complete the Ecological Tourism Highway along the Yellow River, and newly build more than 2,500-km highways, including reconstructed national road, county through-traffic highway, and red tourism highway, etc. Shaanxi will launch Xi’an-Shiyan High-speed Rail, carry forward the preliminary work of Xi’an-Chongqing High-speed Rail, accelerate the construction of Xi’an-Yan’an and Xi’an-Yinchuan High-speed Rail, and complete Xi’an-Chengdu and Baoji-Lanzhou High-speed Rail. Shaanxi will also advance Xi’an Metro Line 1 Phase II and III, and Line 4, 5, 6, and Lintong Line projects.

Shaanxi will accelerate the construction of “Broadband Shaanxi”, conduct intellectualized reconstruction for “Big Xi’an” power distribution network, and make great efforts to underground utility tunnel and sponge city pilot projects. Shaanxi will also accelerate major water conservancy projects such as Hanjiang-to-Weihe River Water Transfers Project, Dongzhuang Reservoir, and Yellow River Water Transfers Project, etc.

Promote quality and efficiency in agriculture and deepen rural comprehensive reform

Shaanxi will develop characteristic modern agriculture, increase 500,000 mu new basic farmlands and have 11.50 million tons of grain total output. Shaanxi will promote the integrative development of the first, second and third industry in rural areas, expand agricultural and rural market body,  highlight leading enterprise drive, cultivate 10 star enterprises, 500 demonstration cooperation,  1,000 demonstration family farms, and 10,000 professional peasants, and structure whole agricultural industrial chains “one after another”.

Shaanxi will deepen rural comprehensive reform. Shaanxi will comprehensively implement rural land ownership, contracting right and management right “Three-Right Separation” reform, take overall consideration of advancing rural land acquisition, collective operational construction land listing, house site reform, and peasant house property right mortgage loan pilot.

Implement innovation-oriented strategy thoroughly and establish industrial technology alliance

Shaanxi will speed up the construction of innovation province, Xi’an Multi-aspect Innovation and Reform Pilot Site, Xi’an Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone National Independent Innovation Demonstration Area, Xi’an-Xianyang New District Double Innovation Demonstration Base, and other national innovation pilot demonstration projects. Shaanxi will actively involve in national major science special items, international great science plans and great science projects, and carry out a batch of provincial major special items in the fields of coal green mining and intelligent manufacturing, etc. Shaanxi will also develop scientific and technological innovation test bases and support the leading enterprise and scientific research institute in universities to establish a batch of industrial technology alliances.

Deepen military-civilian integration and cultivate a batch of military-civilian professional supporting enterprises.

Shaanxi will make good use of military-civilian integration industry fund, establish national military-civilian integration intellectual property collaborative application demonstration base, build 10 military-civilian integration industry alliances, and  cultivate a batch of military-civilian professional supporting enterprises. Shaanxi will refine practicable schemes of 425 central enterprise local signing cooperation projects, which has a total investment of RMB 1.56 trillion.

Shaanxi will promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation, accelerate the establishment of scientific achievements crowdsourcing and crowd funding platforms, support the construction of Shaanxi mass innovation space, “entrepreneurship in XI’AN” and Xi’an Buaa Science Park Mass Innovation Space, etc.

Develop Shaanxi Pilot Free Trade Zone and carry forward opening-up in all directions

Shaanxi will copy and popularize the reform and innovation experience of Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and other pilot free trade zones, and create practical experience with Shaanxi characteristics. Shaanxi will positively explore a new model for the economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between inland and countries along the “B&R”, and advance opening-up in all directions. Shaanxi will continue to make great efforts to the construction of five centers, namely, the center of “B&R” transportation & logistics, scientific and technological innovation, industry cooperation, cultural tourism and financial cooperation. Shaanxi will support Xi’an International Logistics Park to build the largest inland logistics park in China, accelerate the construction of airport comprehensive bonded zone, endeavor to set up Baoji Comprehensive Bonded Zone, and build China Northwest International Cargo Airline. Shaanxi will utilize USD 5.5 billion of foreign investment with a growth of 10%, and introduce domestic capital RMB 685 billion with a growth of 10% above.

Manage haze by a strong hand and decrease more than 3% of PM2.5 concentration in Guanzhong area

Shaanxi will regard haze governance as the number one environmental protection project, vigorously advance joint prevention and control of air pollution focusing on Guanzhong area, stick to bulk coal decrement and replacement as well as clean energy replacement, and accelerate the pace of “gasifying Shaanxi”. Shaanxi will intensify air quality forecasting and early warning, force structural adjustment and industry transformation and upgrading by environmental protection, vigorously develop circular economy and clean production, and decrease 3.9% of carbon intensity compared with the last year. Shaanxi will work hard to decrease more than 3% of PM2.5 concentration in Guanzhong area and increase five superior air days on average.

Shaanxi will intensify environmental governance in key fields, comprehensively implement river chief system, continue to carry out comprehensive reclamation of key river basins, advance water pollution control, and endeavor to let the South-to-North Water Transfer water conservation area be enrolled in the scope of the national natural resource management reform pilot.

Guarantee people’s livelihood via poverty alleviation program and help 885,000 poor people get rid of poverty in 2017

Shaanxi will carry forward poverty alleviation program with the goal to safeguard“two  living needs and three social needs of the impoverished people'” (i.e. the impoverished people are provided with enough food and clothing and with the opportunities for access to compulsory education, basic medical care and housing security), take overall consideration of advancing relocation and resettlement work for poverty alleviation, disaster avoidance, ecology, etc., build 213,000 relocation and resettlement houses, complete archiving and relocation for poverty alleviation of 180,000 households and ecological relocation for disaster avoidance of 42,000 households, and help 885,000 poor people and 13 poor countries get rid of poverty in  2017.

Solidify cultural confidence and strengthen cultural construction

Shaanxi will cultivate and fulfill socialist core values, strengthen the protection of historical and cultural heritages and revolutionary sites, advance intangible cultural heritage protection and red gene inheritance development, construct historical and cultural base displaying Chinese civilization, and endeavor to make Shaanxi lead the work of solidifying cultural confidence.

Shaanxi will perfect the system of public cultural services and promote harmonious development of all kinds of education. Shaanxi will build, reorganize or expand 100 new urban area primary and middle schools in county level above, practice the poverty-stricken county rural teacher living subsidy policy, launch the implementation of the third phase pre-school education action plan, and accelerate compulsory education in balanced development. (www.sxdaily.com. reporters Ma Lei, Li Kexuan & Chen Yiwen)

Shaanxi will open Sino-EU regular trains from Xi’an to Warsaw and Moscow, increase six new international airlines, set 56 new overseas enterprises, have a growth of 55% in overseas investment, and rank second in China in export growth. How to achieve such impressive “report card”? For an inland province that is along no ocean, river or border, what will Shaanxi do to stand in the “forefront” of reforming and opening up from the “rear area” of national geographical location?